Memorial - Gene Christian - Tennesse Fiddler

The Tennessee Fiddler
Gene Christian
February 1926 - October 2013

Gene Christian was an early member (1st generation) of Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys band playing the fiddle. Gene worked with Ervin Rouse, composer of the Orange Blossom Special for several years, and many other great bluegrass bands and musicians such as Flatt & Scruggs, Benny Martin, Vassar Clements, Mac Wiseman, Chubby Wise. Gene’s life was his family and his music, and the world was and is a better place for it.

In 1956 Gene and his band, the Country Pals, won the Arthur Godrey Talent Show program with their version of Salty Dog Blues.

My friend Carl Lambert and I (Jim "Bones" Becker) visited with Gene a few weeks before his death and he requested that, at his funeral, we play the Salty Dog Blues one more time for him, and that is what we did. I will truly miss my good friend Gene. RIP.